It really does start up front

So I'm doing my UCLA football post-season wrap-up, and I was just going over some of the numbers, and the drop off on the defensive line was even more staggering than I thought.

UCLA's top eight defensive lineman in 2010
Tackles, Tackles-for-Loss, Sacks
DT David Carter 41 5 3.5
DE Damien Holmes 28 1 1
DT Cassius Marsh 23 .5 0
DT Nate Chandler 21 1 1
DE Keenan Graham 18 2 2
DE Reggie Stokes 11 2.5 1
DE Owa Odighizuwa 10 4 3
DT Justin Edison 9 1 0
TOTAL 161 tackles, 17 TFL, 12 sacks

UCLA's top eight defensive lineman in 2009
Tackles, Tackles-for-Loss, Sacks
DE Korey Bosworth 58 14 1.5
DT Brian Price 48 23.5 7
DT Jerzy Siewierski 31 6 1
DE Datone Jones 30 11 4
DT Jess Ward 25 3.5 0
DE Damien Holmes 11 3 .5
DE Reggie Stokes 10 .5 0
DT David Carter 9 2 2
TOTAL: 222 tackles, 63.5 TFL, 16 sacks

A one-season drop-off of 46.5 tackles-for loss. Just stunning. If you want to know why the interceptions were down, that's a good indication.

Here's the good news: They were going to drop off anyway, simply because Brian Price was out-of-this-world, but they were also very young. Out of that unit, only Carter and Stokes are moving on, so you have to imagine that the other six will all take a step forward, plus you add the most talented one in the group - Jones - back into the mix next season.